Prior to this, the government had previously only granted locals who assist the German army sanctuary in exceptional cases, state broadcaster ARD reported.

The government's decision to allow interpreters to travel to Germany came as a result of growing evidence they were under constant threat from Taliban recriminations for helping German soldiers during their time in the Kundus region.

Some had received death threats by letter, others threatening phone calls which have since been traced to known Taliban strongholds. The Tagesschau programme said that some workers were forced to change addresses daily and did not feel safe to go to university.

Pressure has been growing on the German military to do more to help their linguist colleagues, both from attention in the media and disapproval within the ranks. Soldiers had complained the screening process to leave the country was taking too long.

Both Germany and the UK are also offering financial incentives to former cooperators in return for staying in Afghanistan, in a bid to avoid an influx of the endangered interpreters. German troops have now withdrawn from the Kundus region, leaving it under the control of the Afghan National Army and Afghan police.

The UK government agreed to grant five-year visas to six hundred Afghan interpreters in May, under pressure from a media campaign in support of the interpreters, reported The Times newspaper.

Mohammad Rafi Hottak, who had worked as an interpreter for UK forces, told The Times: "It will send a message to the Taliban and the terrorists that the Afghan interpreters are not left alone to be persecuted."

Police in Bremen said that the risk of a terrorist attack had been reduced in the city after they arrested two suspected arms dealers. The city remains under high alert, with special protection for the Jewish community.
READ

An estimated 375 people turned out for the Germany-based PEGIDA movement's first demonstration in Britain on Saturday, but were outnumbered by a 2,000-strong crowd of counter-protesters, police said.
READ

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared the killing of three government troops by pro Moscow rebels a "serious breach of the ceasefire", during a telephone call Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, her office said.
READ

Germany's highest civil court ruled in favour of a man who swapped the carpet in his new apartment for parquet flooring, incurring the wrath of the retired couple who lived below him over his loud footsteps.
READ

Teachers all over the country are expected to stike starting Monday, German education trade union GEW said, after negotiations with the wage commission of the federal states (TdL) failed to achieve results.
READ

Andre Shepherd at the European Court of Justice in June 2014. Photo: DPA

American soldier Andre Shepherd, who applied for asylum in Germany as a conscientious objector against the war in Iraq after going AWOL from his unit, saw a judgement by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) go against him on Thursday.
READ